Central Outreach & Advocacy Center

job readiness

By

Meet Me at the Palaver

by Kimberly Parker

A few days ago, I was having a supervision meeting with our Candler School of Theology intern, Emmanuel, who is from Ghana. One of the questions I asked him to reflect on was, “Where have you seen God in the work you have done at Central OAC thus far?” He talked with me about an African tradition: “Meet me at the Palaver” or “Come to the Palaver.” The Palaver is a large tree that serves as a community meeting spot in the shade where all can gather as equal partners to discuss problems, solve conflict, and heal.  Emmanuel talked about our lobby and how people come inside seeking assistance, help, and support for the things they are enduring. He saw a connection between our lobby and the Palaver – a place where people can gather, feel safe, and rest physically.

I’ve been reflecting on this concept since Emmanuel and I talked, and I’m now finding parallels everywhere. We recently had our monthly Main Frame Job Readiness graduation. During graduation, students are given the opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings about what the program means to them. One of the students, an older gentleman from the Virgin Islands, mentioned that the Main Frame had been a peaceful, safe, and restful place to be for him.  He powerfully contrasted how he feels in the OAC with how he feels out on the streets. Outside, he said, “It’s not safe; it’s not peaceful; things are chaotic. In this space it’s safe and calm.” 

Just last week, one of our regular guests travelled several states away to visit family.  As she transferred buses and drove through different states, she sent us pictures and updates through the OAC’s Facebook page letting us know about the progress of her trip. She updated us all along the way. I have continued to think about her and the way she saw us as a point of reliable sanctuary.  I believe that our staff and volunteers create a safe place for our guests each day. This guest found peace when she came into the lobby and even carried that with her as she travelled. She found a place she wanted to be and stayed connected to it. She found a community she could trust enough to tell us that she was leaving and where she was going.

This is humbling to think about, and I am grateful that we are able to offer such a place for those who choose to trust us with their struggles. Meet me at the Palaver is going to stay on my mind for a while. Our values state, “We believe in meeting people where they are with patience and humility, and treating each person with respect and dignity.” These values are similar to the ones that Emmanuel expressed to me regarding the Palaver tree.  My hope is that we continue to be the Palaver for our community of guests.

By

People Above Process

by Michael Gable

Michael graciously served as our interim Main Frame Coordinator while Ahren Cassinari-Foster was on parental leave.  We are so grateful for all the different ways he’s served at the OAC and hope he’ll still remain connected to us even though his required internship is completed.

My introduction to Central Outreach and Advocacy Center was as a Clinical Pastoral Education student, a curriculum designed to help me experience and process the trauma of constantly working with people in crisis. So, in addition to “volunteering” 3 days a week, I also attended classes where we explored how the stories of the people who came into the OAC affected me.  The one-word answer is: “profoundly.”

I spent time with people whom most consider as just a statistic: “Atlanta’s homeless population.” While there were a few who fed into the trope of what society tells us to expect of a person experiencing homelessness, the stories of most people defied simple stereotype. The stories I encountered were a kaleidoscope of experiences. While the people I helped had a variety of needs, most simply wanted to be officially recognized as a person by our government and by other people.
As my time wore on, I worked to understand not just the job in front of me, but also how the OAC functioned as a whole. I was introduced to how it seeks to partner with other organizations to connect people with services. I witnessed the work of engaging lawmakers to make structural changes to a system with plenty of opportunity for improvement. Finally, I landed in our Main Frame program, a curriculum designed to engage people over the course of weeks, rather than minutes, helping them to learn a few basic steps to breaking into the ever-changing job market.
When you spend time with people and really listen to their stories, it gradually gets harder to dismiss them. Throughout the Main Frame class, I found myself surrounded by good people who had gotten left out of the job market for a variety of reasons.  Together, we covered skills such as career planning, resume building, job searching, and interviewing. We discussed budgeting, basic on-the-job skills, motivation, and work-life balance. We critiqued, held each other accountable, and celebrated as businesses began to respond to job applications.

Central Outreach and Advocacy Center began as just a placement, a spot where I would do my time and get my seminary credit.  But with the help of Ahren, April, Brenna, and Kimberly, I began to recognize how much more it was–a place where we come to recognize the Image of God in one another as we work to put people above process.

By

Housing Mr. M

by Ahren Cassinari-Foster

I first met Mr. M in the lobby of the OAC.  I was rushing off to do something else when he flagged me down and asked me about our job readiness program.  I assumed he was another guest wanting an answer to a question that he should be asking at the front desk-but I was very wrong!  He seemed like a nice enough guy when I met him but I had no idea that he would prove himself to be one of the most successful and focused job readiness students I have ever worked with.

When Mr. M first came to us, he was staying in a shelter, working on his addiction recovery, and just beginning to piece his life back together after some trying times.  After a few weeks of job readiness training, Mr. M found a job. Soon thereafter, he found a second job!

Over the next few months, Mr. M occasionally came in to the OAC just to say hi or to receive services.  After one of those visits we found out that we had been given access to a significant amount of money earmarked for housing for Main Frame students through the United Way.  Mr. M and I met and began to talk about the possibility of assisting him with rent.   

Soon enough, Mr. M had found a room to rent, had a contract drawn up, and was able to move in and pay the first month of rent (with a little help from the OAC and the United Way).  Since then, Mr. Murphy has paid the second month of rent by himself and is working with us on budgeting and saving strategies to help set him up for success over the long run.

It has been a pleasure to work with someone so focused on achieving self-sufficiency.  Often when we work with guests, we don’t see the success they achieve after they leave us.  Especially when we help people with supportive services, we don’t know if they are able to get housing and employment with the identification we help them obtain.  It has been really rewarding to see Mr. M progress from someone struggling with addiction and living on the street to someone who has two stable jobs and is able to pay his own rent.  We are incredibly proud of what Mr. M has accomplished and his story gives us hope.

By

What is our Mission?

by Kimberly Parker

What is the mission of Central Outreach & Advocacy Center (Central OAC)?

“We open doors to overcome and prevent homelessness.”

Our mission statement has changed over the years. This latest version was adopted by our Board of Directors in 2017 in conjunction with our new current three-year strategic plan. I often begin any talk I give with our mission statement and then go on to share how we accomplish our mission through our three main programs: supportive services, job readiness, and advocacy.

In sharing about our mission, I also talk about how we are not going to eliminate homelessness on our own. As we provide our vital services and work in partnership with other agencies, I believe we can make a difference for those who find themselves in a situation of homelessness. It takes all of us working together, doing the work we each do well, to truly make a difference. We work with Mercy Care to give our guests access to medical care.  We work with Georgia Law Center to give our guests access to legal assistance.  We can’t do these things alone.

Our mission statement guides all of the work we do. Anytime we are thinking about making a change to our programs or services, I ask myself if the change will allow us to carry out our mission.  In addition to our mission, we have also recently developed core values and tenets for our organization.  I wanted our team to have some guiding principles for our work and for who we are as an organization. The team sat down over a year ago with our Board Chair, Jeff Hilimire. He led us through an exercise to  help us get at the heart of who we are as an organization serving those experiencing homelessness.

We developed three tenets that defines the work we do:

We open doors to overcome and prevent homelessness by:

  • empowering our guests to take the next step toward self-sufficiency.
  • passionately and intentionally telling our guests’ stories to educate others.
  • ensuring we have the resources to be at our best.

In addition to our tenets, we developed four core values:

We believe in meeting people where they are with patience and humility and treating each person with respect and dignity.  

I firmly believe that if you sit down and observe with one of our staff or volunteers while they serve our guests, you will see each person living out our values. These values are critical in creating trust with our guests, which I believe to be the first step in helping someone overcome homelessness.

The issue of homelessness is complicated. Many barriers exist. There is no easy fix. It takes time. It takes relationship building. It takes navigating through difficult processes and systems. It takes resources. Unfortunately, it’s the resources that are often the barrier to doing more for those experiencing homelessness. Non-profits like Central OAC  regularly struggle to find foundations, government monies, and individual donors to continually support the good work that is done on a daily basis. Central OAC has had its ups and downs in the funding arena and certainly one of my biggest tasks as the Executive Director is to make sure the monies continue to come in to support the programs and services we offer.

As a result, I will keep telling our story and our guests’ stories because I know that we can make a difference. I know that we can continue to open doors to overcome and prevent homelessness. For those of you who already support us, thank you. For those who may want to get more involved, let’s talk. Your support will go a long way to ensure that our staff and volunteers are able to continue the good work that has already begun!